Triton (moon)

Triton is the largest <a href="/facts/Natural_satellite/AE4KQKbq">natural satellite</a> of the <a href="/facts/Planet/rbPjE6Bx">planet</a> <a href="/facts/Neptune/1eucwHIC">Neptune</a>. It is the only moon of Neptune massive enough to be <a href="/facts/List_of_gravitationally_rounded_objects_of_the_Solar_System/VUqhybx1">rounded under its own gravity</a> and hosts a <a href="/facts/Atmosphere_of_Triton/Xbsf1VU4">thin, hazy atmosphere</a>. Triton orbits Neptune in a <a href="/facts/Retrograde_orbit/1HCbwQqy">retrograde orbit</a>—revolving in the opposite direction to the parent planet's rotation—the only large moon in the <a href="/facts/Solar_System/QIcLSazQ">Solar System</a> to do so. Triton is thought to have once been a <a href="/facts/Dwarf_planet/IkQoCdwD">dwarf planet</a> from the <a href="/facts/Kuiper_belt/IvLzYp5P">Kuiper belt</a>, <a href="/facts/Gravitational_capture/bf2tB9zC">captured</a> into Neptune's orbit by the latter's <a href="/facts/Gravity/bqAN7DdQ">gravity</a>.
At 2,710 kilometers (1,680 mi) in diameter, Triton is the <a href="/facts/List_of_natural_satellites/DDPE0b8o">seventh-largest moon</a> in the Solar System, the second-largest planetary moon in relation to its primary (after Earth's <a href="/facts/Moon/zKHqEMPb">Moon</a>), and larger than all of the known <a href="/facts/Dwarf_planet/IkQoCdwD">dwarf planets</a>. The mean <a href="/facts/Density/92p6hh9I">density</a> is 2.061 g/cm3, reflecting a composition of approximately 30–45% <a href="/facts/Ice/BGvkKFjD">water ice</a> by <a href="/facts/Mass/HHdc8XmF">mass</a>,: 866  with the rest being mostly rock and metal. Triton is differentiated, with a <a href="/facts/Crust_(geology)/FYG1kP4F">crust</a> of primarily ice atop a probable <a href="/facts/Planetary_oceanography/uckThwLf">subsurface ocean</a> of liquid water and a solid rocky-metallic <a href="/facts/Planetary_core/LyQ7DbAl">core</a> at its center. Although Triton's orbit is nearly circular with a very low <a href="/facts/Orbital_eccentricity/WGlB4NBn">orbital eccentricity</a> of 0.000016, Triton's interior may still experience <a href="/facts/Tidal_heating/Ntl6sXJ0">tidal heating</a> through obliquity tides.
Triton is one of the most geologically active worlds in the Solar System, with an estimated average surface age of less than 100 million years old. Its surface is covered by <a href="/facts/Solid_nitrogen/6KF2HYIx">frozen nitrogen</a> and is geologically young, with very few <a href="/facts/Impact_crater/nWntooh4">impact craters</a>. Young, intricate <a href="/facts/Cryovolcanic/YyWhVCJ3">cryovolcanic</a> and <a href="/facts/Tectonic/jPcFacFP">tectonic</a> terrains suggest a complex geological history. The atmosphere of Triton is composed primarily of nitrogen, with minor components of <a href="/facts/Methane/kBHneYnh">methane</a> and <a href="/facts/Carbon_monoxide/CKuLtEMJ">carbon monoxide</a>. Triton's atmosphere is relatively thin and strongly variable, with its atmospheric surface pressure varying by up to a factor of three within the past 30 years. Triton's atmosphere supports clouds of nitrogen ice crystals and a layer of organic atmospheric <a href="/facts/Haze/83dMNDgj">haze</a>. 
Triton was the first <a href="/facts/Neptunian_moon/rIkJDbzz">Neptunian moon</a> to be discovered, on October 10, 1846, by English astronomer <a href="/facts/William_Lassell/JoEW3Ird">William Lassell</a>. The 1989 <a href="/facts/Flyby_(spaceflight)/BtJe76fP">flyby</a> of Triton by the <a href="/facts/Voyager_2/9FAEaHUr">Voyager 2</a> <a href="/facts/Spacecraft/YQqQaUw0">spacecraft</a> remains the only up-close visit to the moon as of 2025. As the <a href="/facts/Space_probe/AeWRBITP">probe</a> was only able to study about 40% of the moon's surface, multiple concept missions have been developed to revisit Triton. These include a <a href="/facts/Discovery_program/fyVvN4KK">Discovery</a>-class <a href="/facts/Trident_(spacecraft)/TED8Fkds">Trident</a> and <a href="/facts/New_Frontiers_program/QV1qnRAH">New Frontiers</a>-class Triton Ocean Worlds Surveyor and Nautilus.

Triton (moon) open-in-new

Triton (moon)